With just under a month left in the inaugural CPL season, the picture of how things might look at the end of the campaign has become a little clearer.
Cavalry FC are already locked in – they punched their ticket to the CPL Championship in June, winning the 10-match Spring season sprint to grab one of two spots in that final home-and-home showdown.
Question is, who will join them?
Will it be Forge FC, tied with Cavalry atop of the Fall standings as of Sunday, or could another team make the late-season leap?
Weekend results – York9 FC taking all three points away to FC Edmonton, HFX Wanderers drawing level with Valour FC and Cavalry FC moving past Pacific FC – saw fortunes change, a team eliminated, and certain results set in stone for the rest of 2019.
He’s how those matches changed the race for the Fall title and a spot in the 2019 CPL Championship.
Forge clinch cumulative table advantage
Despite being idle this weekend, Forge FC gained a little certainty in one of their two possible routes to this year’s CPL Championship.
Weekend results guaranteed Forge at least second place in the CPL’s cumulative table, using results from both Spring and Fall campaigns. If Spring title winners Cavalry win the Fall campaign, the second spot in the CPL Championship will be awarded Forge as the second-best team in the combined table.
FC Edmonton’s 3-1 defeat to York9 FC on Saturday and Pacific FC’s 4-1 loss to Cavalry FC on Sunday saw Forge’s current total of 44 points become insurmountable for the other clubs vying for a place in the CPL Championship.
Pacific FC, the last team in contention, can now only reach a total of 41 points over their next five matches. FC Edmonton was eliminated from this particular route of qualification the day prior, with their loss ensuring a maximum of 43 points.
York9, Valour FC and Pacific FC were already mathematically eliminated from winning the CPL’s overall table.
2019 CPL Overall Table (Spring & Fall) – Sept. 22, 2019
| Club | GP | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
 |
22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | +25 |
46 |
 |
22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | +18 |
44 |
 |
23 | 7 | 7 | 9 | -3 |
28* |
 |
23 | 7 | 6 | 10 | -3 |
27* |
 |
23 | 7 | 5 | 11 | -8 |
26* |
 |
24 | 7 | 4 | 13 | -15 |
25* |
 |
23 | 5 | 7 | 11 | -14 |
22* |
| *Eliminated from winning overall table | ||||||
Weekend results mean a Fall title is the only remaining route CPL clubs other than Forge FC or Cavalry FC can take for a spot in the CPL Championship…
HFX Wanderers eliminated from Fall, CPL Championship contention
Saturday also saw the first CPL side eliminated from Fall title contention: HFX Wanderers.
Stephen Hart and co.’s 0-0 draw to Valour FC sealed their fate as HFX can no longer top Cavalry in the Fall standings.
While HFX can reach 26 points – bettering Forge and Cavalry’s current top-of-the-table total of 25 – two remaining matches between both Forge and Cavalry guarantee one or both teams will accumulate at least 27 points.
Sixth-placed FC Edmonton (maximum 29 points), fifth-placed Pacific FC (maximum 30 points), fourth-placed Valour FC (maximum 28 points) and third-placed York9 FC (maximum 31 points) are still mathematically in contention to win the Fall season.
For context, Forge and Cavalry can accumulate a maximum of 43 points on the Fall season.
CPL’s Fall campaign will continue on Saturday, September 28 with a triple-header; HFX Wanderers host FC Edmonton (1:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. AT, available on OneSoccer), Pacific FC visits Forge FC (3:30 p.m. ET, available on OneSoccer) and York9 FC welcoming Cavalry FC (6:00 p.m. ET, available on OneSoccer) to York Lions Stadium.